The Many Regrets of Brooke Davis
by Whattheheartwants
Summary: Looking back over the four years of high school, Brooke Davis had alot of regrets. But she never imagined that she'd have even more once she got to college...
1. Prologue

The Many Regrets of Brooke Davis

For years I have dreamt of graduating high school and getting away from Tree Hill. It finally happened last year when, in August, I enrolled at the University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill was just far enough away to give me space but close enough just in case I needed to come back. I didn't ever really need to though, except for holidays when everybody left campus. Even then there just wasn't much appeal for me to be back in Tree Hill. I suppose that's where I should start my story, telling you about my past in my hometown.

Tree Hill, North Carolina, a small town where everybody knew everything about everybody and nobody had secrets. I was just your average high school girl; I had a handful of really close friends and a dozen or so others that I considered friends, even if we weren't that close. I was never really considered popular, even though I hung out with most of the popular kids. Hell, my two best friends were on prom court and Cari was voted our queen. But once again, I stood on the sidelines, taking in all of the good things that were happening to the people around me. I was "everybody's friend," but sometimes it felt like I just didn't belong. I was always invited to hang out with everybody but it seemed like I was only asked if I ran into people; no one ever actually called me except for Cari and Whitney. They were my rocks, the only people I could really count on, but even they didn't know my whole story. I think that's why I was so anxious to get away from Tree Hill; I wanted to branch out from who I had become and transform myself into someone new. I was tired of being every girl's friend, but nobody's best friend, every guy's friend, but no one's girlfriend.

I just wanted a change and I found it in Chapel Hill. Sometimes, I think it's ironic that I go to school in a place with such a similar name as my hometown but for me it just worked. I was relieved after I decided on UNC to find out that only three other people from my high school were attending there too, which is strange for a school so close to home and one so well known throughout the country; I guess I just lucked out. So I packed my bags, shed some tears, said my goodbyes and left behind my home for the first 18 years of my life to begin my journey to my new self. That journey is what you're going to be told here. I thought my high school years were full of moments I wanted to rewind, but they were nothing compared to my first year in Chapel Hill. So, if you're ready, I'll tell you my story and all my many regrets.


	2. Welcome to College

Welcome to College

Welcome to college. I think I heard that sentence about 50 times within the first hour after I arrived on the campus in Chapel Hill. Everywhere I turned, there was yet another person with a fake smile plastered across their face, telling me where to go, what classes to take and what activities to sign up for. Not that a little guidance isn't appreciated, but I was so sick of people with their advice telling me how to live my life; I had enough of that back home with my mother keeping me on a tight leash in order to prevent me from becoming just like my older sister Taylor. So, as random people I'd never met before were giving me advice from their personal experiences, I became determined to do exactly the opposite of most of it; I was going to experience what I wanted, good or bad.

Moving into my dorm was an experience in itself considering I was all by myself; my parents decided that they were too busy making and spending money to even come usher me into the real world. As I watched my roommate's family, her parents and her siblings, unpack all of her things to her yelling at them for doing it wrong, I suddenly resented the girl in front of me for not realizing how absolutely lucky she was to even have them there. So, as soon as I was unpacked enough, I quietly left the chaos to walk around campus, which turned out to be a useful thing. I felt silly walking around with my color-coded map trying to find my classes until I ran into, and I mean literally ran into, a petite girl doing the exact same thing I was doing.

Her name was Haley and we quickly learned that we had the same freshman week class and she was living just two floors above me. She was so sweet and genuine that I felt lucky to have met her so early on in my college career. We spent the rest of the afternoon learning campus, buying our books and just getting to know each other. Finally, around dinner time, we decided to head back to our dorm where she introduced me to a girl from her floor that was in our class too. Peyton Sawyer was her name and I could tell instantly that she was unlike any other person I'd ever met before in my life. Haley also introduced me to the pair of guys that lived across the hall from her, Tim Smith and Lucas Roe, who happened to be in my art class. The five of us became inseparable immediately, with Lucas and I such close friends that people often speculated that we were secretly dating, which was definitely not the case. Sure, we talked about it a few times, but we both realized that we were better as just good friends.

As the months passed by, we continued our close friendships. Tim was the clown, always good for a laugh when you needed cheering up. Haley was the golden girl, always succeeding in all she did, but never believing it was good enough. Peyton was the wild card of our group; she was open, honest and never took anybody's crap. She was also the most promiscuous of our little group, randomly hooking up to avoid the fact that she couldn't handle another relationship like the disaster that was her last. Then there was Lucas, our confidante, the one we all went to with our problems and he was always willing to listen and hand out advice, no matter how insane it sounded to the rest of us. And me you ask; well, I was the quiet one. I was reserved and vague, never letting anyone know what was really going on inside my head. However, despite my reservations, I let my guard down slowly and began to open up to my closest friends. And not to sound conceited, but I was sort of the glue that held our group together. You see, around October, Peyton and Haley had a falling out and didn't actually speak to each other again until after Christmas break. And due to proximity, Lucas and Tim sided with Haley and basically stopped speaking to Peyton for a short time as well. This part isn't really important yet, because there were a lot of events that occurred before the fighting began and a few issues that lead to the short demise of their friendships. But don't worry; you'll soon learn the events that took place, the issues that arose and how the group was restored, as well as the first of my many regrets.


End file.
